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Rajinikanth’s ‘2.0’ is top 2018 film on BookMyShow

2.0 that sold 16 tickets per second is followed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s period saga Padmaavat and Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Sanju

New Delhi: Non-Hindi Indian language cinema has trumped Bollywood yet again. Online ticketing site BookMyShow has rated superstar Rajinikanth's Tamil science fiction flick 2.0 as its top movie of 2018 in terms of collections made on the platform.

The Bigtree Entertainment Pvt Ltd-owned site released data on how India consumed out-of-home entertainment including movies, music to live entertainment - plays, events, and sports this past year titled #BestOf2018. The data takes into account events between 1 December, 2017 and 18 December, 2018.

2.0 that sold 16 tickets per second is followed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali's period saga Padmaavat and Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Sanju. Hollywood superhero film Avengers: Infinity War is next in line. Overall, Hindi cinema ruled the roost, followed by Telugu and English movies. Film buffs in Bengaluru watched the most number of movies and bought more tickets than cities like Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad and the National Capital Region.

Regional cinema saw a remarkable rise, contributing 45% to the total number of tickets sold on BookMyShow in 2018. Tamil and Telugu films together formed 73% of the total number of tickets sold for regional films fuelled by the release of movies like 2.0, Sarkar, Geetha Govindam and Rangasthalam, among others. Tickets sales in other Indian regional languages like Malayalam and Kannada also experienced growth.

The live entertainment genre experienced impressive growth as consumers made use of the BookMyShow service for more than 12,000 out-of-home events listed pan-India. The live-entertainment listings registered a growth of about 20% this year as compared to 2017, echoing the swelling demand for these events. This year, the India debut of Disney's Aladdin and Broadway-style musical Mughal-e-Azam ranked as the top live events.

“2018 has witnessed great demand for both movies and live events. On one hand mega blockbusters like 2.0, Padmaavat and Sanju entertained audiences at the box office while on the other, international experiences like Disney's Aladdin and Cirque du Soleil BAZZAR left audiences spellbound when it came to live events, showcasing 2018 as truly a year of all things entertainment – be it movies, plays, sports or concerts,” said Ashish Hemrajani, chief executive officer and founder, BookMyShow.

While the demand for events and activities was high across the country, each city had its preferences. Mumbai was big on plays whereas Delhi leaned towards food and historical monuments. Bengaluru and Hyderabad took more to stand-up gigs, on the other hand.

In 2018, users preferred BookMyShow to book their spots at the Indian Premiere League leading to packed stadiums along with Pro Kabbadi League that experienced high demand in cities like Pune, Patna and Ahmedabad.

Non-Hindi language artistes ruled as far as music goes as well. Punjabi singer Guru Randhawa is the top artiste on the site followed by Atif Aslam and Neha Kakkar. Proper Patola (Namaste England) and Khalibali (Padmaavat) are the top Hindi songs of the year while Sicko Mode (Travis Scott) and Thank u, Next (Ariana Grande) are the top international numbers.